PADRES FIND THEMSELVES PONDERING THE PITCHING

Cashner gets emergency start, but he’s outdueled by Lincecum

SAN FRANCISCO 
Forty percent of the Padres pitching rotation was a scratch Saturday.

On a night when starting pitcher Tyson Ross went on the disabled list and rotation-mate Clayton Richard was back in his hotel room, felled by “flu-like symptoms,” Andrew Cashner came out of the Padres bullpen to take over the latter’s start Saturday. Cashner acquitted himself fairly well in the emergency, but was victimized by a two-run homer by Pablo Sandoval that stood for a 2-0 win by the San Francisco Giants.

Indeed, the Giants needed just three hits for the win, which you can do when you’ve got a switch-hitter whose resume includes three home runs in one World Series game. Sandoval’s so capable, in fact, that he somehow turned what most would agree was a great inside pitch into a game-winner.

“It was the pitch I wanted to throw,” said Cashner, noting that he actually got beat by the walk to Angel Pagan that preceded the homer. “I jammed him and he got it up in the air.”

Also working against the Padres was Tim Lincecum, pitching at times like he did when winning two Cy Young Awards. Shutting out the Padres on four hits over 6 2/3 innings, Linecum struck out eight, bringing to 22 the San Diego total of whiffs in two games here.

“He was throwing strikes, and when he missed, he missed over the plate,” said Chase Headley. “It even seemed like when he was trying to go away, he missed and pulled it all the way across the plate, hitting the inside corner. He definitely had the best handle of the splitter that I’ve seen in a while, and it’s one of the best.”

The Padres rotation, which began the season with a lot of ineffectiveness, suddenly is awash again in uncertainty. Richard’s sickness is expected to pass in a matter of days, but Ross is done for at least two weeks and likely longer. The nature of his separated-shoulder injury — and the Padres’ history with it — suggests that the team will want to be extra cautious in bringing him back.

Two seasons ago, right-handed starter Dustin Moseley was twice sidelined by a subluxation of his non-pitching shoulder, a very rare injury that occurred while he was hitting. The exact same thing happened to Ross, although his arm was dislocated in a different part of the shoulder, and the wonder is whether he’ll have to have the same sort of procedure that tightened up the capsule of Moseley’s shoulder.

Deja vu?

“A little bit, a little bit,” said Black. “Let’s hope when he comes back, there won’t be a reoccurrence.”

The Padres’ plan is to have lefty Eric Stults pitch the series finale at San Francisco today, as scheduled, and Marquis work the Monday opener of a three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday at Petco Park. Ross’ next start was to be Tuesday and Black seemed fairly confident that Richard would be well enough in time to handle that assignment.